PAYE calculator Uganda
Put in a gross monthly salary in UGX, or the take home you want to pay, and get PAYE band by band with the working shown, NSSF, Local Service Tax, net pay, the annual figures and what the employee costs the employer.
Short answer: PAYE is charged in slices. The first UGX 335,000 a month is free of tax, then 20 percent to 410,000, 25 percent to 485,000, 30 percent to 10,000,000 and 40 percent above that. On a salary of UGX 1,500,000 the PAYE is UGX 338,250 and the take home is UGX 1,161,750 before NSSF. Your own figures below.
Your payroll figures
Uses the resident PAYE bands on the URA rates page, checked 19 September 2026. Nothing is sent anywhere and no email is asked for. It updates as you type.
Net pay: UGX 1,161,750take home a month after PAYE
PAYE band by band
Chargeable pay of UGX 1,500,000 taxed in slices, resident rates.
| Band of monthly pay | Rate | Pay in this band | PAYE from it |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAYE for the month | 22.55% of pay | UGX 1,500,000 | UGX 338,250 |
- Gross monthly pay, including allowancesUGX 1,500,000
- Less PAYEUGX 338,250
- Less NSSF, employee 5 percentNot included
- Less Local Service Tax taken this monthNot included
- Net pay in the handUGX 1,161,750
- Plus NSSF, employer 10 percentNot included
- Total cost to the employerUGX 1,500,000
Over a full year, on the same pay
- Gross payUGX 18,000,000
- PAYEUGX 4,059,000
- NSSF, employeeUGX 0
- NSSF, employerUGX 0
- Local Service TaxUGX 0
- Net payUGX 13,941,000
- Total cost to the employerUGX 18,000,000
Reading: the top shilling of this salary is taxed at 30 percent.
This is arithmetic on the figures you typed, using the rates published by URA and KCCA on the dates shown below. It is not tax advice, and it does not replace a payroll run or a URA ruling.
How this calculator works
Every figure above is arithmetic on what you typed. There is no estimate and no hidden adjustment. In plain words:
- Gross pay is basic pay plus any taxable allowances you entered.
- Local Service Tax is picked from the band your gross monthly pay falls in, then divided by four if the employer spreads it, and taken off gross pay before PAYE is worked out.
- Chargeable pay is gross pay minus the Local Service Tax taken in that month.
- PAYE is charged on chargeable pay in slices: nil on the first UGX 335,000, then 20 percent, 25 percent, 30 percent and 40 percent on each slice above it. Only the money inside a slice is taxed at that slice's rate.
- NSSF is 5 percent of gross pay taken from the employee and 10 percent of gross pay paid by the employer on top. The employee share is taken after PAYE, so it does not reduce the PAYE figure.
- Net pay is gross pay minus PAYE, minus the employee NSSF, minus the Local Service Tax taken that month.
- Employer total cost is gross pay plus the employer NSSF. Local Service Tax is the employee's tax, so it is not added again.
- The annual figures add up twelve months. When Local Service Tax is spread over four months, the PAYE of those four months is slightly lower than the other eight, and the year total reflects that.
- Net to gross runs the same sums backwards until the take home matches the figure you asked for.
The rates this page uses, with the date each was checked
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PAYE tax free threshold, residentUGX 335,000 a month
UGX 4,020,000 a year. It rose from UGX 235,000 a month on 1 July 2026 under the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2026.
Source: URA PAYE rates page. Checked 19 September 2026.
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Band 2, resident20 percent
20 percent of the amount above UGX 335,000, up to UGX 410,000 a month. At the top of the band that is UGX 15,000 of tax.
Source: URA PAYE rates page. Checked 19 September 2026.
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Band 3, resident25 percent
UGX 15,000 plus 25 percent of the amount above UGX 410,000, up to UGX 485,000 a month. This band is new: it was added when the threshold was raised on 1 July 2026.
Source: URA PAYE rates page. Checked 19 September 2026.
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Band 4, resident30 percent
UGX 33,750 plus 30 percent of the amount above UGX 485,000, up to UGX 10,000,000 a month. Most salaried staff in Uganda sit in this band.
Source: URA PAYE rates page. Checked 19 September 2026.
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Surcharge above UGX 10,000,000 a month10 percent extra
On top of the 30 percent, an extra 10 percent applies to the amount above UGX 10,000,000 a month, which is UGX 120,000,000 a year. The top slice is therefore taxed at 40 percent.
Source: URA PAYE rates page. Checked 19 September 2026.
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NSSF5 percent plus 10 percent
15 percent of gross monthly pay in total: 5 percent from the employee and 10 percent from the employer. Every employer with one or more employees must register, under the NSSF (Amendment) Act 2022. Not changed by the 2025 or 2026 tax Acts.
Source: RSM Uganda Tax Guide 2025/26, with PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries. Checked 19 September 2026.
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Local Service Tax on employeesUGX 5,000 to 100,000 a year
Set by gross monthly pay: above UGX 100,000 to 200,000 pays 5,000 a year; to 300,000 pays 10,000; to 400,000 pays 20,000; to 500,000 pays 30,000; to 600,000 pays 40,000; to 700,000 pays 60,000; to 800,000 pays 70,000; to 900,000 pays 80,000; to 1,000,000 pays 90,000; above 1,000,000 pays 100,000. The bands come from the Local Governments (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2008 and were not changed in 2025 or 2026. KCCA gives the worked example of pay of 420,000 paying 30,000.
Source: KCCA Local Service Tax FAQs. Checked 19 September 2026.
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PAYE and NSSF deadline15th of the next month
The employer must file the PAYE return and pay the tax by the 15th day of the month after the payroll month, so January PAYE is due by 15 February. NSSF contributions fall due on the same date.
Source: Uganda PAYE guide 2026, consistent with the RSM withholding tax table and the NSSF deadline. Checked 19 September 2026.
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Local Service Tax deadline31 October
The employer deducts it and remits it to the local authority where the employee lives within the first four months of the financial year, by 31 October. The penalty for late or non remittance is 50 percent of the tax due.
Source: RSM Uganda Tax Guide 2025/26, with the KCCA FAQs on instalments. Checked 19 September 2026.
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Late PAYE penalty Needs confirmationConfirm with URA
Late filing or late payment of PAYE is widely reported as UGX 200,000 or 2 percent of the unpaid tax a month, whichever is higher, plus 2 percent a month interest, with an extension to file of up to 90 days that does not move the date the tax must be paid. That figure matches the VAT penalty that is confirmed in the same guide, but no URA page was seen stating it for PAYE, so confirm it before you rely on it.
Source: secondary tax guides only, not a URA page. Checked 19 September 2026.
A worked example
A salary of UGX 1,500,000 a month, resident, no NSSF or Local Service Tax switched on
The first UGX 335,000 is free. The next UGX 75,000, up to 410,000, is taxed at 20 percent, giving UGX 15,000. The next UGX 75,000, up to 485,000, is taxed at 25 percent, giving UGX 18,750, so UGX 33,750 of tax by the time pay reaches 485,000. The remaining UGX 1,015,000 is taxed at 30 percent, giving UGX 304,500.
PAYE is UGX 33,750 plus UGX 304,500, so UGX 338,250. Take home is UGX 1,161,750, an effective rate of 22.55 percent, well under the 30 percent top slice because the lower slices are cheaper.
Switch NSSF on and the employee also loses UGX 75,000, taking net pay to UGX 1,086,750, while the employer pays UGX 150,000 on top and the employee costs UGX 1,650,000 a month. Switch Local Service Tax on as well and the band for pay above UGX 1,000,000 is UGX 100,000 a year, taken as UGX 25,000 in each of four months, which also shaves UGX 7,500 off the PAYE of those four months.
Two more from the same rate table: a salary of UGX 500,000 pays UGX 38,250 of PAYE and takes home UGX 461,750, an effective rate of 7.65 percent. A salary of UGX 5,000,000 pays UGX 1,388,250 and takes home UGX 3,611,750, an effective rate of 27.77 percent.
When the answer changes
The calculator handles ordinary cash pay. These cases move the number, and none of them is guesswork you should do in a spreadsheet at month end.
Benefits in kind are taxable pay. A company car available for private use is valued at 20 percent of the vehicle's market value when first provided, multiplied by the days it was available over the days in the year, minus anything the employee pays; the market value is written down 35 percent a year on a reducing balance in later years. Employer provided housing is valued at the lower of market rent minus what the employee pays, or 15 percent of employment income for the year. A staff loan over UGX 1,000,000 below the Bank of Uganda statutory discount rate creates a benefit equal to the interest foregone. Domestic help, waived debts, employer paid utilities at the employee's home and the use of employer property are all taxable at what they cost or are worth. Add the value to allowances above and the PAYE follows. Checked 19 September 2026.
Some pay is exempt and should be left out. Reimbursed medical expenses and medical insurance, travel, meals and accommodation while working away, meals in a staff canteen open to everyone, any single benefit worth under UGX 10,000 in a month, employer contributions to a statutory retirement fund, share options under an employee scheme, and, for an employee of ten or more years of service, 25 percent of a gratuity payment. Checked 19 September 2026.
A second employer does not use these bands. An employee with more than one employer must name a primary employer. The primary employer applies the banded table above and every other employer withholds at a flat rate instead. Needs confirmation The URA PAYE rates page states that flat rate as 30 percent, while 2026 press coverage citing URA describes it as the highest marginal rate and reports 40 percent. Confirm the current rate with URA or your payroll provider before you run a second payroll on it. Checked 19 September 2026.
Non residents pay from the first shilling. A non resident individual gets no tax free band: the first UGX 335,000 is taxed at 10 percent, then UGX 33,500 plus 20 percent of the amount above 335,000 up to 410,000, then UGX 48,500 plus 30 percent of the amount above 410,000 up to 10,000,000, and the same extra 10 percent above UGX 10,000,000. The calculator above uses the resident table only. Source: URA PAYE rates page, checked 19 September 2026.
Local Service Tax steps, it does not slide. Crossing a band boundary by one shilling moves the whole annual amount, and the jump from the 600,000 band to the 700,000 band is UGX 20,000, not 10,000. Outside Kampala a council may assess business Local Service Tax differently, so check with the council that receives it.
NSSF base. NSSF is 15 percent of gross monthly pay. This calculator applies it to basic pay plus the allowances you entered. If an allowance sits outside the NSSF base your fund has agreed with you, take it out of the allowances box and add it back after.
If a deadline is days away, or a penalty has already landed
What to do first
The date that matters is the 15th. PAYE for a payroll month must be filed and paid by the 15th day of the next month, and NSSF falls due the same day. Local Service Tax goes to the local council by 31 October.
File first, even if you cannot pay it all. Filing the return and paying the tax are two separate obligations. A return that is not filed keeps generating its own penalty while you are finding the cash, so lodge the return on time and deal with the payment separately.
Read the notice for the dates, not the amount. A URA assessment or penalty notice carries the period it covers and the window to respond. The window closing is what removes your options, so note that date before anything else.
If the debt is old, ask whether it is already waived. From 1 July 2026, outstanding principal tax, penal tax and interest owed as at 30 June 2016 and still unpaid is waived, with no condition to first pay the principal. If part of what URA is chasing predates 30 June 2016, ask URA whether the amnesty covers it. Source: Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Act 2026, checked 19 September 2026.
Get the payroll records together. Whoever helps you, the first thing they will ask for is the payroll register, the PAYE returns already filed, the NSSF schedules and the notice itself. Having those ready shortens everything that follows.
For a ruling on your own payroll, go to URA. Nothing on this page is a ruling, and we are not URA.
Where we come in
Growth Informer Software Services is registered with URA as a tax agent. We file PAYE, VAT and other returns, set up and train your team on EFRIS and VAT on your own systems, help when a penalty or an assessment lands, lodge objections to assessments, and represent a business in a dispute. We do not publish a price for tax work: we quote after we have seen the notice or the books. We will not promise you an outcome, and we have no affiliation with URA.
On the software side, the reason payroll goes wrong is almost always the spreadsheet. Bands get copied from last year, an allowance is missed, Local Service Tax is forgotten until October, and the PAYE return does not tie back to the payslips. A payroll system holds the bands once, applies them to every employee, produces payslips and the URA and NSSF schedules from the same figures, and keeps the history. We build HR and payroll systems for Ugandan employers, and the page on payroll software in Uganda sets out what to look for before you buy anything. The form below gives the typical range for a system like this once it knows where you are.
You get a fixed quote before work starts, pay on a 50/25/25 plan, and own the source code and your data outright. We are one Kampala team with 37 live website and app builds on our portfolio page and over USD 100k of client ad spend managed. Message us on WhatsApp and we reply within 6 hours, then set up a meeting for the next day.
Common questions
PAYE is worked out on chargeable monthly pay in slices, not at one rate on the whole salary. The first UGX 335,000 is free of tax. The slice from UGX 335,001 to 410,000 is taxed at 20 percent, the slice from 410,001 to 485,000 at 25 percent, and the slice from 485,001 to 10,000,000 at 30 percent. Anything above UGX 10,000,000 a month carries the 30 percent rate plus a 10 percent surcharge, so 40 percent on that top slice. These are the resident rates on the URA PAYE rates page, checked 19 September 2026.
NSSF is 15 percent of gross monthly pay in total. The employee pays 5 percent, taken out of pay, and the employer pays 10 percent on top of pay. Every employer with at least one employee must register, a rule in force since the NSSF (Amendment) Act 2022. Contributions are due by the 15th of the following month. The rates were checked on 19 September 2026 and were not changed by the 2026 tax Amendment Acts.
Yes. Local Service Tax comes off gross pay before PAYE is worked out, which is how the KCCA guidance sets it out. For an employee it is an annual amount between UGX 5,000 and UGX 100,000 fixed by a band of gross monthly pay, and the employer may take it in four equal monthly instalments. It is paid to the local authority where the employee lives, by 31 October, and the penalty for late payment is 50 percent of the tax due. The bands were checked on 19 September 2026.
PAYE withheld from a payroll month must be filed and paid to URA by the 15th day of the next month, so January PAYE is due by 15 February. NSSF falls due on the same date. Local Service Tax goes to the local council by 31 October. Late PAYE is reported to attract a penalty of UGX 200,000 or 2 percent of the unpaid tax a month, whichever is higher, plus interest, but that figure comes from secondary guides rather than a URA page, so confirm it with URA before relying on it. The deadlines were checked on 19 September 2026.
No. The whole calculator runs in your browser, nothing you type is transmitted, and no email address is asked for. If you choose to send us the result on WhatsApp, the figures are written into the message so you do not have to retype them, and you can edit or delete any of it before you press send.
Payroll that ties back
to the URA return
Tell us how many staff you run, how you pay them and what you use today. We will scope an HR and payroll system that produces payslips, the PAYE return and the NSSF schedule from one set of figures, and give you a fixed quote before any work starts. If the problem is a URA notice rather than software, say so: we are a registered tax agent and we will quote once we have seen it.
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